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Dynamics and stability of a fluid filled cylinder rolling on an inclined plane

The dynamics and stability of a fluid-filled hollow cylindrical shell rolling on an inclined plane are analyzed. We study the motion in two dimensions by analyzing the interaction between the fluid and the cylindrical shell. An analytical solution is presented to describe the unsteady fluid velocity field as well as the cylindrical shell motion. From this solution, we show that the terminal state is associated with a constant acceleration. We also show that this state is independent of the liquid viscosity and only depends on the ratio of the shell mass to the fluid mass. We then analyze the stability of this unsteady flow field by employing a quasi-steady frozen-time framework. The stability of the instantaneous flow field is studied and transition from a stable to an unstable state is characterized by the noting the time when the eigenvalue crosses the imaginary axis. It is observed that the flow becomes unstable due to long wavelength axial waves. We find a critical Reynolds number ($\approx 5.6$) based on the shell angular velocity at neutral stability with the corresponding Taylor number being $\approx 125.4$. Remarkably, we find that this critical value is independent of the dimensionless groups governing the problem. We show that this value of the critical Reynolds number can be explained from a comparison of time scales of motion and momentum diffusion, which predicts a value near $2 π$.